Recipe for Curry Rice by Tim Anderson

In his book JapanEasy, chef Tim Anderson proposes a recipe for curry rice, one of the most popular dishes in Japan. Introduced to the country by British officers and diplomats, curry first caught on particularly within the Japanese navy and army, before becoming popular with the general Japanese population. 

Although it is made without meat here, except for the stock, the chef points out that it can be paired with chicken, beef or pork. 

Tim Anderson is an American chef who won the 2011 series of MasterChef UK. Having graduated in 2006 from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he studied the history of Japanese cuisine, he then lived in Japan for two years, in Fukuoka. He now lives in London, where he runs two Japanese restaurants: Nanban Brixton and Nanban Central. 

Serves 2-4

Difficulty: probably the least difficult curry you’ll ever make

Ingredients

1 onion, cut into small chunks

2 carrots, peeled and cut into wedges

400 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1/2 cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florettes

4 portions cooked rice (300 g raw)

For the curry sauce:

4 tablespoons oil

1 large onion, roughly chopped

2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced

1 green chilli, roughly chopped 

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tomatoes

1/2 golden delicious or similar apple, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 banana

30 g mild Madras curry powder

2 tablespoons garam masala (mix of Indian spices)

750 ml chicken or beef stock

60 g butter

6 tablespoons plain flour

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Salt

Method

For the sauce, combine the oil, onion, ginger, chilli, garlic, tomatoes, apple, banana, curry powder, and garam masala in a food processor and blitz to a paste. Pour this into a saucepan and cook on a medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mixture begins to caramelise and the spices become aromatic. Add the stock and bring to the boil.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a separate saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook on a low heat for about 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until the roux thickens and turns a golden brown colour. Ladle the curry mixture from the other pan into the roux, a little at a time, whisking constantly to incorporate. Add the ketchup and soy sauce. Cook the mixture until it’s quite thick, then transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender to purée until very smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.

Place the onion, carrots and potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, add the cauliflower and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes, until everything is tender. Drain and return to the pan, and pour in the curry sauce. Bring everything back to a simmer and serve with the rice.

JapanEasy (2017) by Tim Anderson, published by Hardie Grant.